Document Searching Tool and Method

1. A method of automatically searching through a store of electronic documents, the method comprising: controlling a user interface to permit a user to enter a search term; carrying out a search using the search term; categorizing the documents returned by the search into a plurality of distinct categories; and controlling the user interface to present the documents returned by the search, or references thereto, in a grouped manner such that documents of a particular category are grouped together, wherein the categories are selected in dependence upon the search term, wherein the categories are selected by identifying concepts within a personalized ontology which match words from the search term to use as the categories, and wherein the personalized ontology is formed by setting constraints on the allowable values of attributes of concepts within a common ontology.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the categories are selected by processing the search term together with a common ontology or set of ontologies.

3. A method according to claim 2 further including: using a stored history of the user's previous searching actions in combination with hierarchical information contained in the ontology or set of ontologies, to generate a new set of sub-categories to present to the user, wherein the new set of sub-categories is generated by expanding an attribute of a base category, which attribute refers to another concept in the ontology or set of ontologies, in accordance with the stored hierarchy of the concept in the ontology or set of ontologies to which the attribute refers, to generate sub-categories of the base category, whereby search results are subsequently categorized in accordance with the values of the selected attribute into respective ones of the newly generated sub-categories.

4. A method according to claim 2 wherein at least one or some of the categories are dynamically generated from the ontology by combining concepts from the ontology to form compound categories.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the search is a keyword based search.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the search term is converted into a structured query which is used to query one or more relational databases.

7. A server computer for assisting a user, using a remote device, to search through a set of documents available to the user stored on devices connected to the same data network to which the server and the remote device are connected, the server including: means for receiving from the remote terminal a search term, means for carrying out a search using the search term, means for categorizing the documents returned by the search into a plurality of distinct categories, and means for returning output data to the remote terminal which permits the remote terminal to present to the user the documents returned by the search, or references thereto, in a grouped manner such that documents of a particular category are grouped together, wherein the categories are selected in dependence upon the search term, wherein the categories are selected by identifying concepts within a personalized ontology which match words from the search term to use as the categories, and wherein the personalized ontology is formed by setting constraints on the allowable values of attributes of concepts within a common ontology.

8. A computer-readable storage medium containing a computer program or suite of programs for causing the method of claim 1 to be carried out during execution of the program or programs.

9. A method of automatically searching through a store of electronic documents, the method comprising: controlling a user interface to permit a user to enter a search term; carrying out a search using the search term; categorizing the documents returned by the search into a plurality of distinct categories; and controlling the user interface to present the documents returned by the search, or references thereto, in a grouped manner such that documents of a particular category are grouped together, wherein the categories are selected in dependence upon the search term, wherein the categories are selected by identifying concepts within a personalized ontology which match words from the search term to use as the categories, wherein the personalized ontology is formed by setting constraints on the allowable values of attributes of concepts within a common ontology, and wherein the retrieved documents are only categorized into a category associated with a concept of the personalized ontology for which one or more constraints have been set if the documents satisfy the or each constraint set for that associated concept in the personalized ontology.